Thomas-Arthur, comte de Lally

Thomas-Arthur, comte de Lally, (count of) (born Jan. 13, 1702, Romans, Fr.—died May 9, 1766, Paris), French general who was executed for capitulating to the British in India during the Seven Years’ War (1756–63).

The son of an Irish Jacobite exile, Lally served in the Irish Brigade of the French army under Maurice, comte de Saxe, and accompanied Charles Edward, the Stuart Pretender, on his invasion of Scotland and England in 1745. In 1758 he was sent to India, where his lack of tact alienated the native princes allied with France. Defeated by the British under Sir Eyre Coote at Wandiwash (January 1760) and besieged at Pondicherry, he surrendered in January 1761. He voluntarily returned to France to stand trial on charges of treason and was convicted and beheaded after a long imprisonment.